Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-03-25
REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE's sun.
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "stinging Annoyances.S

mined TO war against the human race 1t is
every year attacking the grain fields and the
orchards and the vineyards. The Colorado
beetle, the Nebraska grasshOpper, the New
Jersey locust, the universal potato destroyer,
seem to carry on the work which was begun
ages ago when the insects buzzed out of Noah's
ark as the door was opened.
lnmy text the hornet flies out on its mis-
sion. 1t is a species Of wasp, swift in its
motion and violent in its sting. Its touch is
torture to man or beast We have all
seen the cattle run believing from the cut of
its lancet. In boyhood we used to stand
cautiously looking at the globular nest
hung from the tree branch, and while we
were looking at the wonderful paste-board
covering we were struck with something that
sent us shTieling away. The hornet goes IN
swarms. 1t has captains over hundreds, and
twenty of them attacking one man will
produce certain death. The Persians
attempted to conquer Christian
city, but the elephants and the beasts on
which the Persians rode were assaulted by the
hornet, SO that the whole army was broken
up and the besieged city was rescued. This
burning and noxious insect stung out the
Hittites and Canaanites from their country.
What the cleaning sword and chariot of war
could not accomplish was done by the pune
ture of an insect. The Lord sent the hornet.
My friends, when we are assaulted by be-
hemoths of trOuhle-great behemoths of
them; we get on the high-mettled steed of
our courage, and make a cavalry charge at
them, and, il God be with us, we come out
stronger and better than when we went in.
But, alas for these insectile annoyances of
life-theSe foes too small to shoot-these
things without any avoirdupois weight-the
gnats, and tine midges, and the flies, and the
wasps, and the hornetsl In other words, it is
the small singing annoyances OF our life
which drive us out and use us up. Into the
best conditioned life, for some grand and
glorious purpose, God sends the hornet.
remark in the first place, that these small
singing annoyances may come in the shape
of a sensitive nervous organization. People
who are Frustrated nnder typhoid fevers or
with broken bones get plenty of sympathy,
but who pities anybody that's nervous The
doctors say, and the family says, and every
body says: "Oh she's only little nervous
that's ALL The sound Of heavy foot, the
harsh clearing Of a throat, a discord in music
want Of harmony between the shawl and
the glove on the same person, a curt answer,
a passing slight, the wind from the east, any
one of ten thousand annOyanCeS opens the
door for the hornet. The fact is,
that the vast majority of the people in
this country are overworked, and their
nerves are the first to give out. A great null
titude are under the strain of Leyden, who,
when he was told by his physician that If he
did not stop working while he was in such
poor physical health he would die, responded:
''Doctor, whether J. live or die the wheel must
keep going around.n These persons OF whom
speak have a bleeding sensitiveness. The
flies love to light on anything raw, and these
people are like the Canaanites spoken of in
the text or in the cOnteXt-they have very
thin covering and ere vulnerable at all points.
And the Lord sent the hornet
Again, these small insect annOyances may
come to us in the shape of friends and ac-
quaintanceS who are always saying disagree
able things. There are some people you can
not be with for half an hour but you feel
cheered and comforted Then there are
other people you cannot be with for five
minutes before you feel miserable. They do
not mean to disturb you, but they sting you
to the bone. They gather up all the yarn
which the gossips spin, and peddle it. They
gather mp all the adverse criticisms about
your person, about your business, about your
home about your church, and they make your
ear the funnel into which they pour it. They
laugh heartily when they tell you, as though it
were good joke, and you laugh too-outsde.
These people are brought to our attention III
the Bible, in the Book of Ruth: Naomi went
forth beautiful and with the finest of worldly
prospects into another land, but after awhile
She came back widowed and sick, and poor
What did her friends do when she came back
to the city! They all went out, and, instead
of giving her conlnOn-sense consolation, what
did they do? Read the book of Ruth and fine
out. They threw up their hands and said
''Is this Naomi" as much as to say, How
very bad you lookup When | entered the
Ministry 1 looked very pale for years
and every year, for four or five years, 6
hundred times a year, was asked if l was
not in q consumption. And passing through
the room would sometimes hear people sigl
and cry: "A-ah! not long for this worldr
resolved in those times that I never, in any
I,V,.
and by the help Of God | have kept the reso
luton. These people of whom | speak reaI
and bind in the great harvest field Of dis
couragelnent. Some days you greet then
with hilarious "good-morning, and they
come buzzing at you with some depressing
information The Lord sent the hoT
net. 1t is astonishing how some people
prefer to write and to say disagreeabl
things. That was the case when, years ago
Henyy NJ. Stanley returned after his magniti
cent export of finding Doctor David Living
ston and when Mr.. Stanley stood before thu
savants of Europe, and many of the smal
critics of the day, under pretense of getting
geographical information, put to him mos
insolent questions, he folded his arms and re
FUSED TO answer. At the very time when yol
would have supposed all decent men woul
have applauded the heroiSm Of the man ,ther
were those to hiss. The Lord sent the hornet
When that man sat down on the wester
coast Of Africa sick and worn, perhaps in tn
gTandeSt achievement of the age in the way
geographical discovery there were small critic
all over the world to buzz and buzz, an
caricature and deride him; and when q fe'
weeks after that he got the London papers, c
he opened them, out flew the hornet. Whe
see that there are so many people in til
world who like to say disagreeable things, an
write disagreeable things, come almost
my weak er moments to believe what a ma
said to me in Philadelphia one Monday morn
ing. | went to get the horse that was at ii
livery, and the hostler, plain man, said
me: "Mr. Talmage, | saw That you preache
to the young men yesterday" l said: " Y s
He said "No use, no use; mans q failure"
The small insect annoyances of life SOM
times come in the shape of a local physic,
trouble, which does not amount to positiy
prostration but which bothers you whe
you want to feel the best Perhaps it is
sick headache which has been the plague
your life, and you appoint some occasion {
mirth, or sOcialitv, or usefulness, and whe
the clock strikes The hour you cannot maxi
your appearance Perhaps the trouble IS bt
tween the ear and the forehead, in the shaL
Of aneuralgic twinge. Nobody can see it {
sympathize with you; but Just at the tin
when you want your intellect clearest, an
your disposition brightest you feel q sharl
Keen disconcertmg thrust. The Lord SCI
the hornet
Perhaps these small insesI anrCyances wi
come in the shape Of a domestic Irritation
The parlor and the kitchen do not alway
harmonic. To get good service and to kee
it is one of the great questions of the countr!
Sometimes it may be the arrogancy and il
considerateness Of employers but whatevC
be the fact, we will admit there are these il
sect annoyanees winging their wa
out from the culinary department.
the grace Of God be not i'll the hea
of the housekeeper, she cannot maintai
her equilibrium. The men come home
night and hear the story OF these annoyance
and say: "Ol these home troubles are vel
little things" They are small small
wasps, but they sting. Marthas nerves we